NOFFZ: Testing the technology of tomorrow today

What has the demise of the video recorder got to do with the extraordinary expansion of the company Noffz in Tönisvorst? The founder of the company Wilfried Noffz, a telecommunications engineer, used to work for Philipps in Krefeld-Lynn, where video cameras were manufactured and where he developed a testing system for them. When Philipps closed their site in 1989 Noffz became self-employed. He continued working on measuring and automation technology from the cellar of his semi-detached house in Tönisvorst. Today, 27 years later and after massive growth, the company now resides in its own company building with offices, a manufacturing plant and warehousing on the Tempelshof Industrial Estate. But it is once again bursting at the seams. The company has always travelled to support its customers round the world and today it has offices in Mexico and Shanghai and a software office in Hungary. The annual in-house exhibitions for wireless and high frequency technology attract up to a hundred international guests.

Noffz Technologies remain on track for further expansion. Responsible for this are the three general managers Wilfried Noffz, Markus Solbach and Manuel Bogedain. Noffz’s son Tobias is already on board, and together with Solbach and Bogedain he will lead the company into the next generation. The Tönisvorster work together closely with the automotive industry and their component suppliers. They develop and manufacture testing technology for wireless communication at the interface of high frequency data transfer, offering testing equipment which provides the highest possible reliability and effectiveness. With these niche products they are extremely successful and in great demand.

Noffz are already working on tomorrow’s technical revolutions today. For example by testing driver assistance systems in order to eliminate faults, or further development and optimisation in the highly complex technology of Car2Car communication used in autonomous driving by using equipment from Noffz. Good results have already been achieved working on radar systems for measuring the distance between heavy goods vehicles. Currently modules for the eCall are also being tested. As from 2018 an EU Norm will require new vehicles to be fitted with this system which, when an accident occurs and the airbag is activated, sends out a signal giving details of the vehicle’s location. The emergency rescue services receive exact details of the accident, so that even if the vehicle is in a field or down an embankment it can still be located.

A novel kitchen machine was also tested during the development stages in Tönisvorst. A new testing technique was developed for the digital kitchen machine and likewise for a robot vacuum cleaner. With the development of the “Internet of Things” it is possible for a company such as Noffz to actually watch market growth taking place, as ever more devices are being wirelessly networked. The refrigerator that tells you what is in it, heating and lighting that can be controlled from a distance and domestic appliances that work economically during the night. But not only in Tönisvorst are tomorrow’s products and systems being tested. The testing technology developed by Noffz is being used worldwide. That is why a medium sized business from the Niederrhein (Lower Rhine) has opened sales offices in America (Mexico) and Asia (China). On the one hand the company is still a family business because, apart from the founder Wilfried Noffz and his son Tobias, his wife Petra Noffz also works there in the areas of finance and human resources. On the other hand, this is a firm with its two other managers and just under 80 employees, which has grown into a substantial medium sized technology company.